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TAIPEI: The Dalai Lama left Taiwan on Friday after a five-day religious mission that tested the island's rapidly warming relationship with China.
Tibet's exiled spiritual leader left from the Taoyuan International Airport outside Taipei, seen off by more than 100 supporters and monks shouting "Long Live Dalai Lama".
The Dalai Lama arrived in Taiwan at the start of the week for a tour primarily aimed at comforting victims of Typhoon Morakot, which battered the island in early August, killing at least 614.
Although he said repeatedly that his visit was "non-political", he told local media that only time would tell if there would be an impact on Taiwan's ties with China, which considers the island part of its territory.
"We wait another six months or one year, then we will know," the monk told Taiwan Public Television Service on the impact of his tour.
Local observers argued that short-term tension was inevitable, but that it would not have a longer-term effect since both Taiwan and China had too much to lose.
"The Dalai Lama's trip will cause the relationship to cool on the surface, with Beijing cutting down some activities," said Hsu Yung-ming, a political scientist at Taipei's Soochow University.
"But in the long term, the development in ties across the Taiwan Straits will not be affected because it would be bad for both sides," he said.
China's agency in charge of Taiwan ties voiced its opposition to the visit twice – the second time just minutes after the Dalai Lama had stepped off his plane from India.
Beijing also cancelled several delegations to the island, including one led by a deputy central bank governor.
"The more China uses all its resources to suppress a smiling monk, the more international sympathy and welcome he will get," the Apple Daily said in an editorial.
"It's a clever decision for (President) Ma to allow the Dalai Lama's visit at a time he needs public support, but his visit also highlights how different Taiwan and China are."
The Dalai Lama's trip came at an awkward time for Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government as it seeks to improve ties and benefit more from the explosive growth of the mainland's huge economy.
Significantly, the Dalai Lama's visit coincided with a massive upgrade in civilian air links between Taiwan and China, with the number of weekly flights rising to 270 from 104.
In an apparent attempt to avoid upsetting China, President Ma Ying-jeou and other senior members of the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) party avoided meeting the Nobel laureate.
This marked a departure from the Dalai Lama's two previous visits to Taiwan in 1997 and 2001, when he was received by several ranking politicians.
"Not one KMT official or politician had the courage to meet the Dalai Lama – an all-too clear demonstration of where the party's loyalties lie," said the English-language Taipei Times.
Despite the criticism voiced by China over his trip, the Dalai Lama expressed hope on his last day in Taiwan that he might one day be able to go to Tibet.
"We are always ready to go back to Tibet. Of course, every Tibetan always thinks that way," he told reporters at the airport as he prepared to depart.
The 74-year-old was responding to a question from AFP on whether he thought he would ever be able to return to his Himalayan homeland, which he left half a century ago at the end of failed uprising.
- AFP/so
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